Modular jack with removable contact array

ABSTRACT

A modular jack includes a housing having a socket and an opening arranged to receive a modular plug into the socket, and a sled including a contact array arranged within the socket, wherein the sled is removable from the socket through the opening of the housing without disassembling the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to modular jacks. More specifically, thepresent invention relates to modular jacks in which a contact array ofthe modular jack may be easily removed and replaced.

2. Description of the Related Art

Modular connectors are used in computer, telecommunication, datatransmission networks, and other similar networks as an input/outputconnection or interface between communication lines or electronicequipment of the networks. Common modular connectors include RJ-11 andRJ-45 connectors, for example. Modular connectors include a femaleportion, referred to as a modular jack, and a male portion, referred toas a modular plug.

A conventional modular jack includes a housing having a socket arrangedto receive the modular plug. The modular jack is typically permanentlymounted to a circuit board such that the modular plug may be easilyinserted into the socket and easily disconnected from the socket. Whenthe modular plug is inserted into the socket of the modular jack, thewires or contacts in the modular plug make electrical contact with ametal wire contact array arranged within the housing of the modularjack. The terminals of the contact array are often directly insertedinto and soldered to the circuit board. A modular plug may be insertedinto and disconnected from a modular jack (referred to as “a matingcycle”) many times.

Over the life of the modular jack, the contact array within the housingwill be become worn and damaged by frequent insertions anddisconnections of the modular plug into and from the socket. Forexample, 5,000 mating cycles has conventionally been the upper limit forhigh quality modular jacks.

Because conventional contact arrays have been integral with the modularjack housing, the entire modular jack must be replaced when the contactarray becomes worn or damaged. Replacing the entire modular jack is alabor intensive and costly process.

Conventionally, replacing the modular jack included returning the entireproduct having the modular jack to a repair facility. Technicians had todisassemble the product, isolate the bad jack, unsolder the modular jackwith special equipment, clean and prepare the circuit board, place thenew modular jack on the circuit board, resolder, reassemble the endproduct, and test the new modular jack. Frequently, because of the timeand cost of this process, the product was scrapped rather thanperforming such a costly, difficult and labor-intensive repair.

Attempts have been made to extend the life of the modular jack by usinga conductive lubricant between the contact array and the modular plugand by plating the contact array with exotic metals. Neither of theseoptions has satisfactorily extended the life of the modular jack.

In extreme cases where reliability is critical, the modular jack may becontained within a disconnectable module for convenient replacement.Here, the product must be specially designed to accommodate a moduleutilizing additional connectors and enhanced packaging, resulting in farhigher costs. Replacing the disconnectable module includes replacing theentire modular jack, resulting in replacing parts of the modular jackthat are not worn or damaged, further increasing costs.

Modular jacks are also used as test ports in electronic equipment.Diagnostic data (usually 500 MHz, or less) are transmitted through atest circuit, the modular jack mounted on a circuit board, and a cableconnected to an analyzer to study the electronic equipment. When not inuse, the modular jack connected to the test circuit becomes anelectrical stub. The electrical stub radiates unwanted radio frequencyemissions causing several EMI/RFI (Electro Magnetic Interference/RadioFrequency Interference) problems, which can cause the electronicequipment to fail FCC emissions tests. The worst offending electricalstub is often an unmated modular jack because it is free-standing andbecause the contacts of the contact array are no longer coupled to andprotected by ground planes within the circuit board. Further, thecontact array resides in a port opening in the electronic equipment'sexterior case. This is a worst case scenario for unwanted EMI/RFI noisepropagation.

Permanently mounted modular jacks may also lead to loss of costly orsensitive data due to easy access to the data port. Conventionalprotective measures, including port covers for blocking plug entry,electronics to disrupt signal transmission, and non-standard keying, allgenerate higher costs and manufacturing times. Furthermore, the contactarray within the modular jack may act as an antenna radiating radiofrequencies that may be intercepted with electronic eavesdroppingequipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the problems described above, preferred embodimentsof the present invention provide a modular jack including a housinghaving a socket and an opening arranged to receive a modular plug intothe socket, and a sled including a contact array arranged within thesocket, wherein the sled is removable from the socket through theopening of the housing without disassembling the housing. Preferably,the housing includes a shield and an internal housing.

According to another preferred embodiment, the housing includes at leastone element arranged to engage at least one element on the sled, and thesled is locked into the housing when the at least one element of thesled is engaged by the at least one element of the housing.

According to another preferred embodiment, the contact array includes aplurality of contacts arranged to make electrical contact with themodular plug. Preferably, each of the contacts is removably mounted inthe sled such that the contacts may be selectively removed or insertedtherein.

According to another preferred embodiment, the sled includes at leastone additional component arranged to modify at least one signaltransmitted through the modular jack, and the at least one additionalcomponent is arranged on the sled such that the at least one componentis removed from the housing when the sled is removed from the housing.Preferably, the at least one additional component is arranged to modifythe signal through amplification, noise suppression or filtration,impedance matching, voltage isolation, magnetic filtering, ESDprotection, resistive termination, shunt programming, solid state/activecompensation, and differential signal equalization.

According to another preferred embodiment, a modular jack assemblyincludes a plurality of modular jacks arranged in-line and/or stackedvertically, wherein at least one of the plurality of modular jacks isarranged according to one of the preferred embodiments described above.

According to another preferred embodiment, a modular jack assemblyincludes a modular jack according to one of the preferred embodimentsdescribed above, a circuit board having at least one electrical contact,the modular jack being mounted on the circuit board, wherein the sled isremovable from the socket through the opening of the housing withoutremoving the housing from the circuit board.

According to another preferred embodiment, the contact array includes aplurality of contacts, each having a terminal end, and the terminal endof each of the plurality of contacts is in direct contact with acorresponding one of the at least one electrical contact.

According to another preferred embodiment, the sled includes at leastone additional component arranged to modify at least one signaltransmitted through the modular jack, and the at least one additionalcomponent is arranged on the sled such that the at least one additionalcomponent is removed from the housing when the sled is removed from thehousing. Preferably, the at least one additional component is arrangedto modify the signal through amplification, noise suppression orfiltration, impedance matching, voltage isolation, magnetic filtering,ESD protection, resistive termination, shunt programming, solidstate/active compensation, and differential signal equalization.

According to another preferred embodiment, the contact array includes aplurality of contacts, and the at least one additional component isarranged between at least one of the plurality of contacts and the atleast one electrical contact of the circuit board.

According to another preferred embodiment, an electronic device includesone of the preferred embodiments described above.

According to another preferred embodiment, a method of replacing amodular jack includes providing a modular jack including a housinghaving a socket and an opening arranged to receive a modular plug intothe socket, providing a sled including a contact array arranged withinthe socket, and removing the sled through the opening of the housingwithout disassembling the housing. Preferably, the step of removing thesled includes inserting a tool into the socket between the sled and thehousing to disengage the sled from the housing.

According to another preferred embodiment, the method includes providingthe sled with at least one additional component arranged to modify atleast one signal transmitted through the modular jack, wherein the atleast one additional component is arranged on the sled such that the atleast one additional component is removed from the housing when the sledis removed from the housing. Preferably, the at least one additionalcomponent is arranged to modify the signal through amplification, noisesuppression or filtration, impedance matching, voltage isolation,magnetic filtering, ESD protection, resistive termination, shuntprogramming, solid state/active compensation, and differential signalequalization.

The modular jack according to the various preferred embodiments of thepresent invention provides virtually unlimited mating cycles ofinserting and disconnecting the plug into and from the modular jack(e.g., from 50,000 to over 100,000 mating cycles), eliminates the needto remove the modular jack from a circuit board when replacing thecontact array, and allows the contact array to be easily removed whenthe modular jack is not in use. The removal of the contact array whennot in use reduces the stub length of the modular jack, which eliminateselectromagnetic and radio frequency output, and secures the modular jackfrom unwanted access. Furthermore, providing at least one additionalelectronic component on the removable sled for modifying the electricalsignal transmitted through the modular jack permits easy inspection anddiagnosis of the additional component when the sled is removed from themodular jack.

Other features, elements, steps, characteristics and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of preferred embodiments of the present invention withreference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a modular jack including a housing and asled according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a modular plug and the modular jack.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the modular jack mounted on a circuitboard.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the housing without the sled.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the sled on the circuit board withoutthe housing.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the sled in electrical contact with the circuitboard.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a tool for removing the sled from thehousing.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the sled with an additional componentaccording to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a ganged in-line modular jack assemblyaccording to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a ganged in-line and stacked modularjack assembly according to another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a modular jack 10 preferably includes a housing 20including an external EMI/RFI shield 30 and an internal housing 40, anda removable sled 50 having a contact array 51. Alternatively, thehousing 20 may omit the EMI/RFI shield 30, or the internal housing 40may include more than one housing. FIG. 2 shows a modular plug 60oriented in front of an opening of the housing 20 before being insertedinto the housing 20. A cable, which typically includes at least twowires, which would normally terminate at the modular plug 60, is notshown in FIG. 2. The modular jack 10 includes a port opening forreceiving the modular plug 60. Alternatively, the modular jack 10 mayinclude two or more openings. The opening in the housing 20 is arrangedto receive the modular plug 60 into the socket of the housing 20. Theopening in the housing 20 may be located on the side of the housing 20for providing a right angle, or side, entry as shown in FIG. 2, or maybe located on the top of the housing for providing a top entry (notshown). FIG. 3 shows the modular jack 10 mounted on a circuit board 70.The circuit board 70 can be a printed circuit board or any othersuitable substrate or platform on which the modular jack 10 can beplaced or mounted.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the modular plug 60 includes a tab 62 to lockthe modular plug into the modular jack 10. The tab 62 is depressed wheninserting the modular plug 60 into the modular jack 10 and depressed inorder to allow the modular plug 60 to be disconnected from the modularjack 10. The housing 20 includes a space arranged to receive the tab 62.The tab 62 may be arranged on the top, bottom, or sides of the modularplug 60. Accordingly, the spaces may be arranged on the top, bottom, orsides of the opening in the housing 20.

Referring to FIG. 4, the external EMI/RFI shield 30 preferably surroundsthe internal housing 40 on all sides except for the opening in thehousing 20, which in this preferred embodiment is in the front of thehousing 20, and the bottom of the housing 20 mounted to the circuitboard 70. As discussed above, the opening may be provided on any one ofthe sides of the modular jack housing, including the top.

The external EMI/RFI shield 30 preferably includes an upper latch 32 anda lower latch 34. The external EMI/RFI shield 30 may be attached to theinternal housing 40 using the upper latch 32 and the lower latch 34 orany other suitable connectors, or the internal housing 40 may bepress-fitted into the external EMI/RFI shield 30. However, the EMI/RFIshield 30 and the internal housing 40 may be attached to each other byany other suitable method. The external EMI/RFI shield 30 is preferablyattached to the circuit board 70 by mounts 36. The external EMI/RFIshield 30 is preferably made of a conductive material, for example,metal, to shield the modular jack 10 from external electromagneticinterference (EMI) or radio frequency interference (RFI) and to containinternal electromagnetic radiation and radio frequency signals withinthe modular jack 10. The upper latch 32 may function as the ground pathbetween the modular jack 10 and a shield of the modular plug 60, if themodular plug 60 and cable are shielded.

The internal housing 40 is preferably made of an electrically insulatingmaterial, for example, a plastic. The internal housing 40 preferablyincludes an upper channel 42 and a lower channel 44 arranged to receivethe upper latch 32 and the lower latch 34 of the external EMI/RFI shield30, respectively. A protrusion 46 extends inwardly and along the sidesof the internal housing 40 to define the bottom of the lower channel 44.As described below, the protrusion 46 extends into a groove 56 of thesled 50 (shown in FIG. 5) to more securely position the sled 50 withinthe internal housing 40.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the sled 50 is removably insertedthrough the opening into the socket of the internal housing 40 of themodular jack 10. Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the sled 50 includes acontact array 51 having a plurality of metal contacts 52, each having afirst end 52 a held in notches of a beam 53 and extending from the beam53 downward and toward the front 50 a of the sled 50. At the front 50 aof the sled 50, the contacts 52 are bent backwards at curved portions 52b toward the back 50 b of the sled 50. The curved portions 52 b of thecontacts are held in notches in the front 50 a of the sled 50. Thecontacts 52 extend parallel or substantially parallel to the bottom ofthe sled 50 and terminate in contact terminals 52 c that are convexlycurved to protrude slightly below the bottom plane of the sled 50. Thecurved portions 52 b of the contacts 52 are held in the notches in thefront 50 a of the sled 50 such that elastic or spring forces of thecontacts 52 press the first ends 52 a of the contacts 52 into thenotches of the beam 53 and press the contact terminals 52 c in adownward direction to contact with lands 72 on the circuit board 70.This arrangement ensures a good mechanical connection between thecontact terminals 52 c and the lands 72, which also ensures a goodelectrical connection, without soldering the contact terminals 52 to thelands 72.

The present invention is not limited to the above arrangement of thecontacts 52 within the contact array 51. The contacts may be of anysuitable shape, or held within the sled 50 in any other suitable manner.For example, the contacts 52 may have a bellows or rams-head shape.

As described below, the contact terminals 52 c may make contact with atleast one additional component 90 mounted to the sled 50, as opposed todirectly contacting the lands 72 on the circuit board 70.

Instead of having the contact terminals 52 c contact the lands 72 on thecircuit board 70, the contact terminals 52 c can engage terminals (notshown) within the housing 20 that are electrically connected to acircuit in or on the circuit board 70. This arrangement, however, hasthe drawback of increasing the stub length by the length of theterminals in the housing 20. Alternatively, the contact terminals 52 cmay contact with conductive portions of the sled 50 which contact thelands 72.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the sides 50 c of the sled 50 slide into thelower channel 44 of the internal housing 40. A groove 56 along each side50 c of the sled 50 is arranged to receive the protrusion 46 arrangedalong the bottom of the internal housing 40. Each side 50 c of the sled50 includes a bump 54 for engaging the lower latch 34 and includes aslot 55 recessed within the side 50 c for receiving a specially adaptedtool for removing the sled 50 from the housing 20, which will bedescribed below.

The lower latch 34 of the external EMI/RFI shield 30 extends along thelower channel 44 of the internal housing 40. A protruding portion 34 aof the lower latch 34 protrudes away from an inner surface of the lowerchannel 44 and toward the interior of the socket. As described below,the protruding portion 34 a engages with the front edge 54 a of the bump54 when the sled 50 is fully inserted into the internal housing 40.

The sides 50 c of the sled 50 are guided into the lower channels 44 ofthe internal housing 40 with the bumps 54 engaging the lower latches 34.As the sled 50 is inserted into the housing 20, the protruding portions34 a of the lower latches 34 contact and slide over the tapered rearedges 54 b of the bumps 54. Upon complete insertion of the sled 50, theprotruding portions 34 a of the lower latches 54 snap away from theinner surface of the lower channels 44 and engage the front edges 54 aof the bumps 54. The contact of the protruding portions 34 a of thelower latches 34 with the front edges 54 a of the bumps 54 lock the sled50 into the internal housing 40. The sled 50, and thus the contact array51, is securely inserted into the socket of the modular jack 10. Thesled 50 is locked in the internal housing 40 until the protrudingportions 34 a of the lower latches 34 are forced toward the innersurfaces of the lower channels 44 so as to not engage the front edges 54a of the bumps 54.

The above latching arrangement is merely a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. The upper latch 32 and the lower latch 34 may bereplaced with more or less latches, and one or more of the latches maysecure the sled 50 in the housing 20. Alternatively, the latches may beprovided on the internal housing 40 as opposed to the external EMI/RFIshield 30. Furthermore, latches may be provided on the sled 50 withcorresponding mating portions on the housing 20. The present inventionmay utilize any system or structure that securely holds the sled 50 inthe housing 20.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a tool 80 that is specially adapted toquickly and easily remove the sled 50 from the housing 20 withoutdamage. The tool 80 includes a handle 82, two flexible prongs 84extending from an end of the handle 82, and hooks 86 extending inwardlyfrom inside surfaces of the two prongs 84. The free ends 84 a of theprongs 84 are spaced apart at a distance that is substantially equal tothe width of the sled 50, i.e., a distance between the outside surfacesof each of the sides 50 c of the sled 50. The bumps 54 along the sidesof the sled 50 protrude just far enough from the sled 50 to define a gapbetween the inner surfaces of the lower channels 44 and the remainingportions on the sides 50 c of the sled, i.e., the portions of the sides50 c of the sled 50 other than where the bumps 54 are located.

The gaps between the sides 50 c of the sled 50 and the lower latches 34located within the lower channels 44 are preferably just wide enough forthe prongs 84 to be inserted therein. The prongs 84 are inserted intothe gaps until the free ends 84 a of the prongs 84 contact the frontedges 54 a of the bumps 54. When the free ends 84 a of the prongs 84contact the front edges 54 a of the bumps 54, the protruding portions 34a of the lower latches 34 are forced towards the inner surfaces of thelower channels 44 such that the protruding portions 34 a of the lowerlatches 34 no longer engage the front edges 54 a of the bumps 54. At thesame time, the hooks 86 on the inner surfaces of the prongs 84 extendinto the slots 55 formed within the sides 50 c of the sled 50. The hooks86 engage the front edges of the slots 55. The tool 80 is then pulledaway from the opening in the housing 20 with the hooks 86 securelyengaging the front edges of the slots 55. The sled 50 is then slid outof the socket through the opening of the housing 20. Thus, the sled 50is quickly and easily removed from the modular jack 10 withoutdisassembling the housing 20 or removing the housing 20 from the circuitboard 70.

The present invention is not limited to the tool described above and mayutilize any tool or other unlocking device that is able to remove thesled 50 from the housing 20. The tool may be arranged to “unlock” thesled 50 from the housing 20, i.e., the sled 50 cannot be removed fromthe housing 20 without the use of the specially adapted tool. The sled50 may also be inserted into the housing 20 without being “locked” inthe housing 20, and, in such a case, this facilitates removal of thesled 50 from the housing 20.

Referring to additional preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the sled50′ may include at least one additional component 90 for modifying thesignals transmitted through the modular jack 10. Each signal transmittedthrough the modular jack 10 may be modified (including not beingmodified) in a different way. For example, one signal may be filteredand another signal may not. The at least one additional component 90 mayinclude one or more components for amplification, noise suppression orfiltration, impedance matching, voltage isolation, magnetic filtering(e.g., “magnetics”), ESD protection, resistive termination, shuntprogramming, solid state/active compensation, differential signalequalization, etc. The additional components 90 may be attached to acarrier circuit board or one or more leadframes, for example. However,the at least one additional component 90 may be attached via any othersuitable device, and by any suitable method, to the sled 50′.

As described above, the contact terminals 52 c may make contact with theat least one additional component 90 mounted to the sled 50, as opposedto directly contacting the lands 72 on the circuit board 70.Accordingly, the at least one additional component 90 is arrangedbetween the contacts 52 on the sled 50 and the lands 72 on the circuitboard 70.

These additional components have far higher failure, repair, andrejection rates than their passive counterparts. The ability to easilyinspect and diagnose a bad additional component and then to simplyreplace with a new additional component by inserting a new sled 50′leads to substantial time and cost savings.

The at least one additional component 90 can also include a mechanicalswitch. For example, a circuit contained in or on the circuit board 70can have a first arrangement when the sled 50′ is inserted into theopening of the modular jack 10 and can have a second arrangement when amodular plug 60 is inserted into the opening of the modular jack 10.Additionally, unwanted electrical potential may be shunted to groundupon mating the modular plug 60 with the modular jack 10, hence creatinga mechanical ESD jack.

The location and number of contacts 52 in the contact array 51 may alsobe easily reconfigured by removing or rearranging the existing contacts52 in the contact array 51. The configuration of the contact array 51may also be changed by merely substituting a sled 50 with a differentcontact array 51 configuration.

A modular jack 10′ according to another preferred embodiment of thepresent invention may be ganged in-line, as shown in FIG. 9.Additionally, the modular jack 10″ may be ganged in-line and stackedvertically, according to yet another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention shown in FIG. 10. Although FIG. 10 shows both rows of theopenings having a space arranged to receive upwardly facing tabs 62 onthe modular plugs 60, the openings may be arranged in any mannerincluding being mirrored such that the upper row has spaces arranged toreceive upwardly facing tabs 62 on the modular plugs 60 and the lowerrow has spaces arranged to receive downwardly facing tabs 62 on themodular plugs 60. Furthermore, ganged in-line modular jacks 10′ organged in-line and vertically stacked modular jacks 10″ may be arrangedon opposite sides of a circuit board. In any case, one or more, or allof the modular jacks may include a removable sled. Furthermore, in aganged in-line modular jack 10′ or a ganged in-line and verticallystacked modular jack 10″, the spaces may be arranged at the samelocation in each of the openings of the housing 20, or at differentlocations.

The modular jack 10 may also include an LED (not shown) to indicate theline status of modular jack 10. The LED may be located on the sled 50 oron the housing 20 of the modular jack 10.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will beapparent to those skilled in the art without departing the scope andspirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention,therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims.

1. A method of replacing a modular jack comprising: providing a modularjack including a housing having a socket and an opening arranged toreceive a modular plug into the socket; providing a sled including acontact array arranged within the socket; and removing the sled throughthe opening of the housing without disassembling the housing.
 2. Themethod of replacing a modular jack according to claim 1, wherein thestep of removing the sled includes: inserting a tool into the socketbetween the sled and the housing to disengage the sled from the housing.3. The method of replacing a modular jack according to claim 1, furthercomprising: providing the sled with at least one additional componentarranged to modify at least one signal transmitted through the modularjack, wherein the at least one additional component is arranged on thesled such that the at least one additional component is removed from thehousing when the sled is removed from the housing.
 4. The method ofreplacing a modular jack according to claim 3, wherein the at least oneadditional component is arranged to modify the signal through at leastone of amplification, noise suppression, noise filtration, impedancematching, voltage isolation, magnetic filtering, ESD protection,resistive termination, shunt programming, solid state/activecompensation, and differential signal equalization.